Palm OS/WinMo Hardware

[#1]

A short story with a happy ending (whew!)...

This morning after Hotsyncing last night, my Tungsten T5 experienced a Fatal Alert while exiting an application. Normally a tap on the on-screen Reset button fixes it, but not today. I depressed the Reset button in the back of the T5. After start-up, I was chilled to see the default Date/Time color scheme (I don't use the default color scheme), and the System Sounds were on (I always keep them off). I knew something was way wrong.

Sure enough, the Fatal Alert & Reset had caused my T5 to lose all of its preferences. Worse yet, although my 3rd party apps seemed to be all there, it wiped out their Serial Numbers and Activation Codes...all of them...so I was running "demo" or "guest" versions of everything. My DateBk6 preferences, icon and button assignments, etc. were gone, too. And VersaMail accounts were ~poof~ gone, too.

First thing I did (after some choice words) was to Hotsync. That was nice...but didn't fix anything.

Second thing was to pop in my Backup SD card. Several years ago, after this happened once before, I plunked down the $30 to purchase the Blue Nomad Security Suite including BackupBuddy VFS. (BackupBuddy VFS Personal is only $10, and there are other backup apps that are even free). I use a 256MB SD card exclusively for backups. While I admit to not using it as often as I should to run backups, when I do them I backup everything completely...all files and applications in the device's memory. And fortunately for me, I had just run a backup yesterday.

Running Backup from the card and selecting Restore, it ran through the Restore routine for about 5 minutes, then said it needed to Reset the T5 to complete the Restore. Indeed, after another tapping OK, the T5 restarted, and - voila! - everything seems to be back to where it was before the crash. All applications work, Hotsync is good, preferences are restored, and most importantly, I don't have to spend the next day and a half hunting down and entering all of my preferences, serial numbers, and worse yet...recreating all of my VersaMail accounts which it also obliterated.

This is the first time I have had to Restore a BackupBuddy backup from the SD card and from what I can tell, it worked flawlessly.

Moral of the story: if you value the information on your Palm, do NOT rely exclusively on Hotsyncing with your desktop to keep your data intact. Get a backup application and a Secure Digital card, and backup the -entire- contents of your Palm's memory on a regular basis. And do it now, while the waters are calm. After a severe crash and data loss, it's too late.

Post relates to: Tungsten T5

Message Edited by smkranz on 02-24-200709:32 AM

Message Edited by smkranz on 02-24-200709:32 AM

Message Edited by smkranz on 02-24-200709:32 AM

[#2]

I backup to my main card, multiple times per day, with more than one backup program. If one fails, I've got another that may still work. Loss of system preferences, hard reset, data corruption, etc.. you _need_ to have a functioning backup. Hotsync should never be considered for this backup utility.

[#3]

I too emphasize the importance of Backing Up your Data!

For the TX, NVBackup is free and worth twice the price!! (Wait, that didn't come out right...)

It has saved me countless hours of frustration, and can be set to automatically do a backup every night (if desired). As many pieces of software that I test, I'm always running into an app that trashes my TX. I'm in the routine of updating my backup file first, then doing the install. If my TX has gone south, I simply do a Hard Reset and then a Restore from NVBAckup.

I've done it dozens of times, and totally trust it! Thank you Alex Pruss!

Perhaps we should create a worldwide "Backup Your Data Day"! We could send cards and everything!

WyreNut

[#4]

Not only should you back up your PDA/smartphone; don't forget the computer. When PC hard drives were considered giant at 20MB and the network wore sneakers, reassembling the missing data was only a minor (a very relative term depending on the data) headache.

Here's a very good example to aim for:
http://forum.brighthand.com/showpost.php?p=443008

Another happy NVBackup user; BackupMan on pre-NVFS devices.

Message Edited by DTfromBH on 02-24-200701:01 PM

[#5]

Yep, Another happy NVBackup user here. Two things I really like about the software, one, it installs a copy on the card with the backup, so if the palm crashes, you can run the one on the card to restore. Two, you can run an auto back up (I set mine for 3 am) that will back up at some time when your palm is on the charger and not in use. I'd have to say the best utility for a Palm pilot available.

[#6]

Where might one find NVBackup?

[#7]

Will this work>? http://www.freewarepalm.com/utilities/nvbackup.shtml

[#8]

Try Palmgear.com.

NVBackup is for use only on OS5.4.x devices. These include Treo 650, Treo 680, LifeDrive, TX, T5, and T|E2. It will not work on a Z22 as there is no SD card slot. It will not work on any other models.

[#9]

I know this should be a simple thing to find, but, for some reason, it I cannot.

I am going to reinstall my OS (Windows XP), so I am backing up everything necessary from my hard drive before it gets reformatted.

What do I need to backup from my current Palm installation, and where is it (is there anything besides the Palm folder in Program Files that I need to look for?)?

This should be an ABC type of issue that is addressed in a number of places, starting with the User Guide, but, if it is, I'm too dense to find it (without spending hours on something so simple?).  Am I the first person that is concerned about backing up the Palm data on my hard drive to something other than my handheld?

[#10]

can this back up be installed to the sd card or in the operating system of the palm 700p  please advise

jim

jimloftin@yahoo.com